


After a leave of absence

by RainbowArches



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Background characters - Freeform, Developing Relationship, F/M, I Believe in Jasper Sitwell
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-29
Updated: 2015-08-29
Packaged: 2018-04-17 19:12:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,376
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4678130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RainbowArches/pseuds/RainbowArches
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Jasper calls Akela one night for the first time in years.</p>
            </blockquote>





	After a leave of absence

It was two o’clock in the morning when her phone rang. Akela didn’t have the problem most people did of processing things immediately upon waking up. Centipede taught her that. So it took her no time at all to realise that her phone shouldn’t be ringing, since the only people who had her cell number were in the same building, asleep in their bunks. If there was an emergency they wouldn’t be contacting her by phone.

Which begged the question whether she should answer it or not. It was unlikely at this point that anyone who shouldn’t have her number _did_ have her number and wanted to use it. More likely it was one of her coworkers- Skye and Fitz were the night owls- calling her about something they deemed an emergency but could wait until morning.

If that was the case the phone wouldn’t stop ringing for a while.

“Hello?”

“Hey. It’s Sitwell.”

Akela blinked dumbly, jolted. She hadn’t talked to Sitwell since lunch the day before the mission. He was dead the last she heard. She read about in the obituaries. It was a simple family blurb. Akela felt weird reading it, like she wasn’t really reading about Sitwell. Just some ordinary person who looked like him and shared his name. He was beaming in the picture; he didn’t have his glasses and there were balloons in the background. It was easy to convince herself she was reading about someone else, though at the time she knew it must be him.

Yet he was on the phone with her right now. That wasn’t a big deal, talking to a dead man. She knew at least five people who were supposed to dead by weren’t. She learned to adjust to these surprises quickly. So she bypassed that part. “How did you get this number?” she asked instead.

“Fury gave it to me.”

She didn’t ask how Fury got her number. How was never the relevant question with Fury.

“Why?”

“Don’t know. Guess he thought I should call you if I ever needed help.”

“Why?”

“I guess he knew we were friends.”

“I’m not friends with Hydra.”

“Neither is Fury. Why would he give me your number if I was Hydra?”

“Why should I believe a word you’re saying?”

“Call Fury and ask him. He’ll tell you. Ask Coulson. He knows too.”

“Then why didn’t you call one of them?”

Sitwell didn’t answer for a moment. Then, slightly embarrassed, he said, “I don’t know. You were the first person that popped into my head so I called you.”

Akela, who had been sitting ramrod straight, relaxed into the pillow a little more. “That’s stupid. What do Coulson and Fury know that I don’t?”

“I’m a triple agent. Go ahead and ask them.”

“I will. What do you need?”

“I need you to talk to me. I have to keep a lookout until seven. Talk to me. Help me stay awake.”

“How about you talk to me. What have you been up to the last nine years?”

He talked and she listened. He started from the first exciting thing that happened after she’d gone missing and worked his way up to the present. He told her about the aliens in New Mexico, the battle of New York, of going undercover in Hydra. He told her about Stern and Garrett and Ward, about knowing and not being able to warn anyone, about tricking his friends. He told her about Fury rescuing him after supposedly dying, about being in recovery together and then hunting Hydra down, about how he was still trying to finish the job. He told her about all the normal stuff when she asked. His sister’s new baby, the dog he’d taken in for a while, the time the sewers backed up on his street. He told her about his safe house and how everything about it pissed him off; he couldn’t shave, the instant coffee tasted like dirt, he couldn’t wash his clothes. He told her about how worried he’d been when she went missing; how relieved he’d been when she turned up again; how he would have called sooner but couldn’t risk it, not with Hydra keeping a close watch on its agents; not without dragging her into it.

Nine years was a lot to cover in five hours. She got up and went to the kitchen for iced tea, hoping it would be enough to keep her awake and she wouldn’t have to make coffee. She hated coffee. She only drank it for the effect.

Eventually Sitwell ran out of things to say and Akela couldn’t avoid talking about herself any longer. She doubted he was Hydra, but she didn’t tell him anything he wouldn’t already know in case he was. She told him about her last mission as a SHIELD agent, about being trapped and used by Centipede, about the things they’d made her do, about trying to quietly help people in the midst of it all. It was easier to talk about now, after going through it over and over during the trial. She went through it like a robot while her mind wandered to trivial things, like Sitwell shaving. She didn’t realise he shaved. He had such a baby face she assumed it was naturally smooth. She thought about work. She thought about her old apartment and the dog that used to hand around her block. She’d considered taking him in. She’d never had a pet before, but this dog was so adept at self-care that she didn’t think that would be a problem. At least he’d have someplace warm to sleep. But then Coulson managed to lure back to SHIELD.

“So what’s Coulson got you doing now?”

“Pretty much the same thing I was doing with Fury before he snatched me back up.” she said. When Fury started directing the Avengers again, Coulson took the opportunity to flaunt all the resources that would make rescuing SHIELD agents that much easier. It wasn’t that so much as knowing he’d be keeping an eye on her now that he knew where she was that made her join.

“That’s it?”

“And, you know, the usual stuff. So what happens at seven?”

“My backup arrives.”

“Who’s your backup?”

“Hand. Don’t tell anyone. She’s supposed to be dead.”

“Yeah, I heard. How’d you meet up?”

Akela shifted in the hard kitchen chair and tried not to yawn as Sitwell launched into another story. It wasn’t even daybreak yet. She got up to make coffee; she was going to need it if she was going to stay awake until seven.

Leaning against the counter, waiting for the coffee to brew, she reflected how smart she’d been to ditch SHIELD. She’d stayed long enough to pass the psyche eval and decided didn’t belong there. She’d never really fit in. Coulson couldn’t turn her into a team player and that didn’t change after the mission went south. She could do more good on her own than inside a corporation.

She watched Hydra take over on the news. For a moment she had regretted leaving. She thought maybe if she’d stayed she could have made a difference, could have prevented the whole thing.

That’s when Fury picked her up. His style suited her better than Coulson’s. But then Fury got pulled back into the Avengers game and Coulson jumped at the chance to pull Akela back into SHIELD. At least he let her do solo missions now.

She poured herself a cup of coffee and stirred in plenty of milk and sugar before sitting back down. She took a sip and winced. Unless it was in the form of a slushy with lots of whipped cream and caramel, drinking the stuff was such a chore. All coffee tasted like dirt in any other form; or, when she made it, dirt with sugar mixed in. Sitwell said she was hopeless. He loved coffee.

She heard the familiar wet crinkle of an ice bag on the other end and for a moment she forgot to be suspicious, instead giving into concern. “What’s the ice for?”

“I hit my head.”

“Concussion?”

“Probably.”

“You should see a doctor.”

“I have to wait for Hand to get here first.”

Akela sighed. One of the cons to being on you own was inconveniences like these.

She got up and walked to the break room, trying to wake up. She flopped onto the couch, a relief after the uncomfortable chairs in the kitchen, though it was much easier to fall asleep now.

“I’m running out of steam, Sitwell. What else can we talk about?” she asked around a yawn.

“Do you have a T.V.?”

“Mm-hm.”

“I don’t. Turn it on. Find something stupid and complain to me about it.”

That’s what they did until five. Akela remembered just in time that May and Skye usually got up around then, so she headed back to her bunk until Jasper rung off a couple hours later. She called Fury immediately after.

“Hello?”

“Hey. It’s me. Is Sitwell a triple agent?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“Just checking.”

She hung up, cheering inside. She was sure Jasper had been telling the truth and she was happy to have it confirmed. She was also glad she went with her instinct and asked Fury instead of Coulson. Suspecting that Jasper was what he said he was, she was afraid Coulson would take him calling her as an invitation to track him down and get him to join his team, and then something would go wrong because something always did. Maybe that’s why Fury gave Sitwell her number.

She realised with a mix of relief and regret that neither of them brought up lunch that day before the mission.

 

Sitwell called at a more reasonable hour next time. Unfortunately it was also in the middle of a mission. Akela couldn’t cook to save her life so she liked the missions that took her to restaurants. Her plate had just arrived and she made a show of enthusiastically digging into her burger while keeping an eye on her mark when her phone rang.

“Hello?” she said, trying her best to articulate with her mouth full.

“Got some agents for you,” said Sitwell.

“Oh yeah? Can they wait until after lunch?”

“Depends how long lunch takes. I can’t keep them here much longer.”

“Run into some trouble?”

“Trouble will be running into us very shortly.”

“I’m kinda busy at the moment. You’re just going to have stash them somewhere until I can get away.”

“What are you doing?”

“Working; what do you think? Who’ve you got for me?”

“Claire Weiss and Bennie Pollack.”

“Don’t know ‘em.”

“You wouldn’t, they’re new. But they’re smart kids; loyal. Picked them up myself shortly after the battle of New York. Coulson wouldn’t know them either but I think he’d like them. Blake can vouch for them if he needs to. Can you pick them up?”

“I’m going to finish my burger first.”

“Where are you eating?”

“I don’t want to tell you. You’ll have opinions.” She hung up. Her mark was paying his bill. She shoveled fries into her mouth until he was halfway down the block, and then paid he own bill and followed him.

 

Sitwell said he was expecting trouble so Akela hadn’t expected to see him, but she’d been hoping. Still, at least Pollack and Weiss made it out okay. She didn’t take them to Coulson. He already had plenty of agents with their expertise, plus it didn’t seem like the best time to bring in new people who weren’t Inhuman; seemed like Coulson’s SHIELD would always be a bit of a mess. Also she just didn’t want to tell him how she found them. She was still afraid he’d think Sitwell needed rescuing and would barge in and mess things up. Instead she took them to Fury, who she thought could use the extra hands.

Sitwell probably made it out okay; he always did (except for that one time when he didn’t). But the pit in her stomach didn’t go away until he called that night.

“Still alive. Thought you’d like to know.”

She sat up in her bed and punched the pillow into a more comfortable position behind her. “Good. Make it out okay?”

“Yep. And you three?”

“Safe and sound.”

They didn’t speak for a while. Akela pulled up her laptop and started a game of Solitaire while listening to the background noise on the other end. Sitwell was puttering around the kitchen, doing the dishes. This sort of thing used to drive her crazy, people wanting her to keep them company over the phone. Why stay on the phone if you weren’t going to talk? But she would have taken it gladly when Centipede had her. She would have given anything to hear her friends be alive and okay, even if she had to listen through the phone, even if she couldn’t talk to them.

“So,” Sitwell began nervously, and for a second Akela thought he was going to ask about the last time they had lunch. “I’ve been thinking about talking to Coulson.”

“About what?”

“About joining.”

“Okay.”

“I’ve been on my own for too long. My job’s not getting any easier.”

“Come in then.”

“But I don’t want to deal with the rest of the team. They still think I’m dead. And Hydra.”

“We’ll take care of that for you. What about Hand?”

“She’s on the fence.”

“Well, you’re both welcome any time. Now let me ask you a question. Was I really the first person you called when you had concussion?”

“Yes.”

“Seriously? You called the girl who doesn’t talk to keep you awake for five hours?”

“I was sure you were going to hate me for that. But by the time I clued in the phone was already ringing.”

“You’re lucky I can’t actually beat people through the phone.”

“I know. Never wake you up; basic survival instinct. You punched me the last time I tried.”

“I thought you were somebody else. And I missed, remember? It’s not like you were actually hit. You still acted like a big baby about it.”

They talked like that for a while longer, joking and reminiscing, until they decided it was time to turn in.

 

There was nothing more frustrating than looking for someone who didn’t want to be found. The elusive Doctor Steiten had been on her catch list for a while; partly because he was a doctor- Coulson’s team had plenty of doctors but not one of them had a medical degree- and partly because Coulson wanted to know what he was up to. He wanted to find out if not being able to find him after Hydra’s take-over was a good thing or a bad thing. Akela didn’t suspect the doctor was up to anything nefarious. She felt kind of bad for him and would prefer to let him stay hidden, but Coulson was of a different mind and she couldn’t just neglect something that the director of SHIELD felt needed looking into.

She told Sitwell about it and a few weeks later he called her back, telling her he’d found him.

“What? How? Where?”

“Hydra was keeping an eye on him for a while. It wasn’t hard to pick up the trail again.”

“They didn’t get to him, did they?”

“No.”

“Well, thanks. You didn’t have to do that.”

“Yes I did.”

She didn’t ask what he meant by that. “I’ll come pick him up.”

 

Akela had only met Streiten a few times- once because she needed stitches after a mission and twice because Coulson needed stitches or ice after sparring with her. He’d been polite and kind; very doctory. When she arrived at the safe house she saw him out of his white coat for the first time. Instead he was in slacks and a button down, like he was going to church, and he’d shaved off his beard. He looked tired and defeated, like he’d been hunted for a while and had given up running (which was exactly the case), but he smiled when he saw her and was polite and kind like he’d always been.

Jasper was sitting on the couch, looking more like the picture she’d seen in the obituaries than the agent she used to work with. His jeans and t-shirt had seen better days. He must have shaved since the first time he called but his beard was growing back in. Facial hair suited him, she noted. Made him look slightly less of a dork.

“Are you coming with us?” she asked him.

“Yes he is,” said Streiten, before Sitwell could open his mouth. “There’s only so much I can do for stab wounds outside of a hospital.”

Akela’s eyebrows shot up. “You were _stabbed?”_

“Only a little.” He lifted his t-shirt so she could see the bandage just above his waist line. “I’ll be fine.”

“You’re still bleeding,” she said, pointing at the small red spot in the middle.

He looked at it. “Oh.”

“See?” said Streiten. “And the one on the back of your shoulder is probably bleeding too.”

Sitwell scowled at him. “What happened to doctor-patient confidentiality?”

“Didn’t seem relevant under the circumstances.”

Akela berated Sitwell all the way into the car. “Why do you and Ha- your partner,” she amended with a glance at Streiten, “keep splitting up when this sort of thing keeps happening?”

“We can cover more ground separately. And this is only the second incident. It would be less but I was run over by a very big truck not too long ago. I’m a little off my game. Plus these were two very skilled goons and I am only one man.”

“You never used to get hurt this much.”

“Did you hear a word I just said?”

 

Akela called Coulson on the way back to tell him that Sitwell was coming too. He explained to the rest of the team about his triple agent status, but it didn’t make the general reception any warmer. It wasn’t cold exactly; just sort of wary and curious. Streiten patched him up properly, gave him some painkillers, and allowed Coulson to sweep him into his office to discuss whatever they needed to discuss.

“Are you going to stay?” Akela asked.

He shrugged his uninjured shoulder. “At least until the meds stop clouding my brain.”

“If Coulson asks you, will you stay?”

“I might.”

Akela huffed. “What if I asked you?”

He twisted his head to look up at her from where he was lying on the operating table. “But you haven’t asked me. What’s the matter? Getting lonely? Tired of being the only level-headed adult around here?”

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “You think that would change if you joined?”

Sitwell made a face at her. His phone chirped and he sat up and pulled it out, suddenly alert.

“My partner found a Hydra cell,” he said. “They’re keeping prisoners for experimentation.”

“You’ll need backup. I’ll go with you.”

“I think we’ll need more of a team than just the two of us and Hand. It’s not like it’s just Ward and a couple of cronies. Hand thinks the prisoners are Inhuman. Seems like the kind of thing Coulson would want in on.”

 

Sitwell was not pleased about being excluded from the mission, but as Akela and Coulson both pointed out, painkillers made him useless on his feet. Akela, Coulson, May, Mack, and Skye met Hand at the vantage point a ways from the Hydra base.

“I thought you were dead,” Coulson said to her.

“I’m not.”

“Okay.”

Akela and Hand took the front and Coulson and May took the back while Mack and Skye rescued the prisoners. Akela could never help but imagine a medieval dungeon as the setting for Hydra’s experiments, but this place looked like what she imagined ordinary science facilities looked like. Sleek labs, clean white halls, young men with clipboards walking around. She had woken up in a place like this after being “rescued” from that mine. An angry chill ran through her as she stalked the halls and took out the guards. A dungeon might have been easier.

The plan had been to prioritize getting the prisoners out above all else. Once the prisoners were safe then everyone would make their exit, except Hand, who would stay and take out the rest of the base. If they didn’t hear from her in an hour they would go back, but only then. Akela was kicking herself as she kept going even after Coulson told her twice to get out, they had the prisoners. She told herself that this was what got her team killed all those years ago, that now was not the time, but her body was running on automatic.

It was a stupid risk, but on the one hand she saved Hand’s life. On the other hand, she got herself clobbered on the head and might have got Hand _and_ Mack, who had come back to drag her out, killed. She didn’t though. When she woke up and hour later everyone was fine and accounted for, including Hand who had just checked in. She didn’t need the lecture afterwards; Coulson knew she didn’t need the lecture but he gave it to her anyway and she didn’t really mind.

 

“You never used to get hurt this much,” Sitwell teased after Streiten let her out of the medical bay. She stuck her tongue out at him, because where painkillers made Sitwell wobbly and woozy, they made her cranky and childish.

She sat at the kitchen table, nursing an iced tea. Sitwell started coffee and sat across from her.

“I hate groups,” she said.

Sitwell tilted his head back, looking down his nose at her skeptically.

“I’m just really bad at them,” she explained.

“ _Do_ you hate groups? Or are you just scared of screwing up?”

She glared at him. “Yes, thank you Doctor Sitwell.”

“I’m just saying what happened today was probably the product of residual guilt and anger over what happened the last time. Because other than that last part, I heard you worked really well with the team.”

She sighed. “Okay, fine. Still prefer solo.”

He huffed a laugh through his nose, rolling his eyes. The coffee-maker gurgled behind him. She noticed belatedly that he’d finally managed to shave his face and change into some clean clothes.

“Coulson’s organizing a team for tracking Hydra other nefarious organizations and he wants me to lead it. So I guess I’m staying put for a while.”

“Welcome back.”

“Thank you. I think he just wants me here to keep you in line.”

“More like he wants me to keep your accident-prone self out of traffic.”

The coffee-maker gurgled, the clock ticked, the fridge hummed. Everything in the kitchen made a lot of noise except them for a while. Eventually Sitwell got up and poured himself a cup of coffee.

“So,” he started hesitantly, sitting back down. “Do you remember when we were having lunch the day before you left-“

“Oh, there you are,” said Coulson when he came in. “I need to talk to you about agents I’ve in the field at the moment.”

“I’ll leave you to it,” said Akela. “I’m going to lie down for a bit.”

 

She’d ended up taking a nap, which meant she was wide awake in the middle of the night. She was hoping a video game would be the kind of mindless crap that would put her to sleep, but it was addicting and she ended up getting really into it. It took her a moment to notice Sitwell in the doorway. She paused the game and turned to face him. “Hey. Can’t sleep?”

He shrugged, “I probably could. I’m just so used to being on constant alert.”

Akela patted the spot next to her. “Have a seat.” She switched to two player and handed him a controller. Sitwell was the gamer, not her. She used sit with him and Coulson and read while they played, until it got way too loud and rowdy that she had to leave. He was quieter when he played with her though, knowing that she didn’t take it seriously at all.

“Coulson was kind of jealous that I called you instead of him.”

“Yeah?” She swore under her breath when her character died for the fourth time.

“I think I’m supposed to take him to a movie now.”

“He’ll get over it.”

She turned the game off and set the controllers aside when Sitwell yawned and sank further into the couch.

“That eye patch makes you look badass, by the way,” he said, his fingers reaching under his glasses to rub his eyes.

“Oh, you noticed.”

She leaned in and pillowed her head on his shoulder. “So, what were you going to say before Coulson interrupted?”

“Hmm? Oh. Nothing.”

“About lunch before I went on the mission from hell. What were you going to say?”

She felt his cheek on her head. He didn’t answer her for a while. “I was just going to ask you the same thing I asked you then. I didn’t get an answer the first time.”

“Can you ask me again?”

“You don’t remember what it was?”

“I’m just afraid I’m remembering it wrong. It would be really embarrassing if I answered a question you didn’t actually ask.” She elbowed him gently. “Ask me again.”

He was quiet for a long time, and Akela thought he might have fallen asleep. “Jas? You awake?”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m just nervous.”

She laughed. She sat up so that she could face him. “Come on. I promise I’ll answer this time.”

He took a breath. “Do you want to go on-“

“Do you want to go on a date with me?”

“-date with- oh.”

“Wow,” said Akela, teasing him. “That was incredibly easy.”

Jasper mock pouted at her. “Well, you freaked me out last time with your silence. I thought I’d screwed everything up.”

“So did I.”

“Yes, by the way. Figured I should actually answer the question.”

“Was that a dig?”

“Now, would I do that?”

In the morning Mack and Fitz would attack them with pillows for falling asleep in “ _their spot,_ ” but they didn’t care.


End file.
